The Wylie football team kicked off its 2012 season with a two-hour workout Monday morning at Bulldog Stadium, giving coach Hugh Sandifer and his assistants a chance to work with their players for the first time in months.

The workout, which featured team and position drills and concluded with conditioning, served more as a refresher course than anything. But the Bulldogs players were thrilled to be back on a football field, competing with one another and preparing for the upcoming campaign.

"It was kind of a crazy day, because we had to issue equipment and then get everyone out here, but I was really pleased with the kids' intensity level," Sandifer said. "Obviously we're not in pads, so we did a lot of stuff on air offensively, but I thought our timing was good.

"The biggest thing, I thought, was the recall — formations, motion, plays from the spring, we snapped right through it. I thought we had as good a first day as we've had."

With just four returning starters on each sides of the ball, Sandifer has a number of holes to fill before the Bulldogs' Aug. 31 opener at Argyle. So competition was the name of the game Monday — and will be throughout Wylie's early-season practices.

Two of the most noteworthy position battles will come on offense, where the Bulldogs must find a new starting quarterback and replace their entire 2011 receiving corps.

Senior Taylor Grant and junior Blake Frampton are currently splitting repetitions at quarterback, and could continue splitting time into the season. Tyler Roberson, Paul Goodrich, Patrick Walker and Shante Brown, meanwhile, figure to be their top targets in the passing game.

Those players and others will spend the next several weeks trying to force their way onto the field through their work in practice. And those involved are looking forward to the challenge.

"Competition just makes everyone work harder for their position," said Grant, who led the Bulldogs over the summer in 7-on-7. "Not being guaranteed a spot makes you work harder and makes you better at what you're doing. As as far as the competition goes, I think it just builds the teamwork and builds your skill individually to bring toward the team."

Added Roberson: "It's like starting fresh, getting to compete with new guys because no one's got a spot yet and we've all got to fight for it. That makes it real fun."

Sandifer, entering his 27th season as the Bulldogs head football coach, said he likes his options at quarterback and receiver and was pleased with the chemistry he saw Monday. But he said he won't know for sure what to expect until later this month, when he's had a chance to see how guys perform in pads and under fire.

"You can simulate a lot in spring and 7-on-7, but you can't simulate evading a rush and making a play under pressure," he said. "The timing at receiver and quarterback is good because of the spring and 7-on-7, but the leadership and playing under fire will come when we get in full pads."

That's not, however, going to keep the Wylie coaches from working to maximize the time they have with their players in shorts in helmets.

With new UIL rules cutting into schools' practice time by limiting the number of two-a-day workouts a team can hold, Sandifer and his staff plan to get as much quality work in as they can during the next few days.

That puts an onus on the players, Grant said, to take advantage of these early workouts and be ready when the season starts.

"Our potential, I think, is unlimited if we just go out there, do our best and keep working hard at it," he said. "We've got a lot of new faces, guys that may not have played last year, but everyone wants to play and they're skilled and smart.